Friday, September 26, 2014

Aryan switched on a light in his lab and the paraphernalia
in front of them surprised Jennifer and Shekhar. Many sophisticated and modern looking gadgets
lay spread out on the various counters and tripods.

“This is the EMF meter. It measure fluctuations in
electromagnet fields and is useful in detecting and documenting the presence or
traces of extraterrestrial objects or communication. And this one is the UFO
and Alien Motion Detection and Mapping Laser System. We can measure the physical
aspects of a presence or any anomaly that passes in front of it within a range
of 500 meters,” said Aryan, touching two of the instruments that came in their
path first.

Shekhar and Jennifer watched Aryan coming alive with
excitement as he introduced them to the various instruments in his laboratory.
He had become excited like a kid visiting a candy store for the first time. He
was animatedly talking about all of his gadgets.

“And this one is the best among them all. This machine can
detect alien DNA. It has the DNA’s of all the creatures so far detected on the
earth and the instant the DNA of an unknown species gets in touch with its
sensor, it starts giving out beeps. I am afraid that it was damaged while
transporting here. On the day I settled into this house, while reassembling it,
it started beeping. It kind of spooked me out. I had just returned after
meeting all the neighbours then. And I am sure, none of them were aliens to
leave a DNA trace on me,” said Aryan, with a smug smile.

“You are lucky none of the other machines were damaged,”
said Jennifer.

“I am not so sure. You don’t come across aliens in any
neighborhood, do we? But now that I remember, my Alien Motion Detection and
Mapping Laser System had also given out some strange signals. It had begun
tracing the shape of something yesterday and afraid that it was also begin to
malfunction,” said Aryan.

“Trace, you mean this machine can plot an extra terrestrial
if it comes within its range?” asked Shekhar bursting with excitement.

“Yes, It has a laser grid system, which can tell us speed,
dimensions and even help us make a 3D model of the anomaly. But the machine was
surely malfunctioning yesterday, because it was tracing the shape of a human
being. I got so disgusted and turned it off mid-way,” said Aryan.

“What if the machine was not malfunctioning? It could have
been an alien in the guise of a human. Trust me, the alien I saw at the FOTA
conference looked and sounded exactly like a human,” said Jennifer.

“You mean… I don’t understand. But..,” said Aryan, stupefied
by the revelation by Jennifer.

“Is there a way, we can access the data that was recorded
yesterday. I mean the recorded data that began plotting the alien on the
grid?”asked Jennifer, her mind working furiously to decipher what all of that
would mean.

“Yes. The data recorded can be accessed anytime to re-plot
the earlier findings,” said Aryan.

“Can you do it now? I have a doubt?” said Jennifer.

Nodding, Aryan went towards the machine, signed in with a
password and accesed the recorded data. He switched off all lights and then
pressed the start button on the plotter. A 3-D laser grid turned on in the
darkness and with tiny beeps the machine started plotting a 3-D human shape.

Two of them gasped when the final output, which gave a skin
finish to the plotting, appeared in the grid.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Tara sat on the living room sofa, flipping through a
magazine. She was not reading a single line as her eyes were fixed on the
closed study room door. She liked Jennifer, but her possessive heart was
stirring up the green monster of jealousy. An hour had passed since Jennifer
and Shekhar had gone into the study. Roohi had slept after a merry story time
with Cyrus. Cyrus too had retired to his room. Tara eyed the door again and let
out an involuntary sigh.

What was it that they
had to discuss under closed doors?

Just for a minute, she thought about eavesdropping at the
door. But she loathed treachery. She
took a deep breath and tried to calm down her wandering thoughts. Jennifer was
still unmarried, but she had never felt anything romantic between them.
Jennifer had been distracted at the dining table and she was staring at Shekhar
a lot. The moment she had left them in the garden to check on Roohi, they had
escaped to the study. Whatever existed between them must be purely platonic.
Her Shekhar was a devoted and faithful lover. Wasn’t he?

“Tara, Can I speak to you for a moment?”

Tara turned hearing the question and found Cyrus standing
near the door of the guest bedroom.

“Of course, come here Cyrus, take a seat,” said Tara,
relieved that she got a reason to distract her devious thoughts.

Cyrus sat on a chair next to the sofa and sat staring at the
floor. It was as though he was lost in thoughts or as though not able to decide
where to begin.

“Cyrus…What is it? What do you want to tell me?” asked Tara with
a smile, after minutes ticked by and Cyrus failed to utter a word.

Cyrus looked at her then and the pain reflected on his face surprised
her.

Until the moment, their family friend Aditya had requested
her to allow his student to stay for a few days at her house, she hadn’t even
known about Cyrus. But she had to admit, he seemed familiar. Yet she was
clueless as to how or where she had met him. She had stirred her cauldron of
memories, but had been unable to remember anything. There was a strong pull she
felt whenever she looked at Cyrus. As though, there existed an invisible thread
that bound them. As though that thread might break any moment because she was
striving hard to get away.

As if her silence disturbed him, Cyrus shook his head and
then hunkered down onto the carpet near her.

“Tara, Remember… Try to remember. You have forgotten all
your promises, all your vows. How can you do this to me… to us?” asked Cyrus,
grabbing both of Tara’s hands.

Tara stood up freeing her hands and glared at Cyrus.

“Get up this moment. What is this nonsense? And what do you
mean I have forgotten my promises? I don’t even know you?” hissed Tara.

“Tara..Tara… Relax. Let me help you remember,” said Cyrus
and took hold of her hands again.

Tara looked into Cyrus’s eyes and in the depths of his
gray-green eyes; a million memories began to wake up. Caught in the web of
those memories she didn’t notice that she had moved nearer to Cyrus and that he
had taken her in his arms.

“What the hell is happening here? What is the meaning of all
this?” screamed Shekhar, who had just come out of the study along with
Jennifer. Tara and Cyrus flew apart. Tara had a dazed look and Cyrus looked
impassive.

“Shekhar, cool down. You are over reacting. Tara will
explain,” said Jennifer, holding onto Shekhar’s arm. Jennifer feared that he
might launch himself at Cyrus.

“What do you mean she will explain? This bastard, we gave
him a place under our roof, considered him like a brother and this is what he
gifts us back. You scoundrel, I’ll kill you,” hollered Shekhar. Tara’s silence
and Cyrus’s wooden looks was infuriating him further.

“Mr. Shekhar, you are misunderstanding me. I didn’t do
anything wrong. Your wife and I have a few old scores to settle. You can ask
her. And I don’t wish to stay here anymore. The purpose of my visit is
fulfilled. Tara… Remember!” said Cyrus and stormed out of the room, leaving
Shekhar and Jennifer staring at Tara with their eyes wide open and mouths open
in the shape of an O.

Within moments, Cyrus came out from the guest bedroom
carrying his suitcase and laptop bag. He gave one last look at Tara who had
become as pale like a ghost.

The door closed behind Cyrus with a loud thud and startled
Shekhar and Jennifer out of their trance. Unable to digest what had happened,
Shekhar floundered towards Tara.

Tara’s eyes flitted between the closed door and Shekhar
frantically. Then she swooned and fell in a heap onto the floor.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Dressed in a
sleeveless green T-shirt and knee length black shorts, with her Nikon D800
dancing like a necklace, Jennifer looked like any other tourist in Mumbai.
Getting out of the rickshaw in front of the National Centre for Performing
Arts, the NCPA as it was popularly called, she smiled as the salty ocean breeze
played with the few of her curls that had come loose. She loved Mumbai!

The setting
sun coloured her dusky complexion with a tinge of gold. Her short curly hair
was pinned up in a high ponytail. In her left hand, she carried a small leather
bag. A tattoo of a scorpion stood in
stead of a bracelet on her right hand which was trying to put the errant curls
back in place. She had the typical carefree air of a seasoned traveler.

Once inside,
she handed over her member pass and the invitation to the conference to the
burly guard stationed in the foyer. The famed double-leveled foyer of the Jamshed Baba theatre looked magnificent with its historic marble staircase. A registration
counter gave her guidelines to the conference and requested her to handover the
camera and bag at the counter. Later, they
gave her a medieval princess mask, which she had to wear throughout the duration
of the conference. Another masked volunteer guided her to her seat. Being a
regular at the conferences of FOTA , she was used to this mask ritual. The
members preferred anonymity.

The
conference that was about to begin was a highly confidential one. If the rumors
were to be believed, the speaker was one among the top ranked and most
respected members of the FOTA. The theatre was filled to its capacity. A masked
speaker appeared before the giant screen, and the screen flickered on with the
welcoming message.

“Welcome to
all Friends Of The Aliens,” read the message.

“Good Evening
dear members of the FOTA… For those of you who are attending it for the first
time, a warm welcome. Those of you who are returning after a while, welcome
back,” said the Speaker and the auditorium resonated with applause from the
audience.

The speaker
had an unusual aura unlike the regular speakers and the audience hung on to
every word that he spoke.

It was while
in college that she had first heard of the FOTA. Her obsession with aliens had
begun after she had read a small storybook in school. She didn’t even remember
its title but the story had got etched in her heart. The story was that of a powerful,
warm-hearted alien who had come to the rescue of a small girl. She and her
neighbor Shekhar would spend hours on their terrace scouring the night sky with
their toy telescope looking for aliens. Even after she moved to Kochi, their
common craze for aliens and FOTA was the bond that kept them close.

Jennifer had
managed to crack a puzzle called the ‘FOTA- Code- Hunt’ that enabled her to
attend these elite conferences held by FOTA. It would be an all expense paid
trip and the attendees flew in from faraway places. Scientists and students
from all over the world coveted the data supplied at these conferences. But as
always, no one leaked the data, it was like an unspoken oath.

Jennifer felt guilty; she had broken the oath many
times, as she couldn’t resist sharing the information with Shekhar who was still an ordinary member. Happiness
of sharing things with someone who understood your madness was something
incomparable.

An applause
that brought a pause in the speech ended Jennifer’s wool gathering.

“Since
centuries we had proof before our eyes. A series of ancient designs stretching
more than 50 miles called the Nazka lines etched into a high plateau in Peru’s
Nazca Desert, has baffled archaeologists for decades. Our epics the Ramayana
and Mahabharata written more than two millinia ago, spoke of the Vimanas which
could travel from earth to sky, planet to planet or from universe to universe. The
Moai of Easter Island,the
887 giant human figures with enormous heads that guard the coastlines of thePolynesian island of Easter
Island are 500 years old, 13 feet high and weighs 14 tons on average. How could
human beings without any sophisticated machinery transport and erect these
giant structures? The statistics doesn’t end there. Look around and you will
find a million of examples that proclaim that we are not alone in this universe.
Extra terrestrials exist. Period,” the Speaker paused and the auditorium buzzed
with cheers.

The brief
introduction to the conference was followed with reports on various planets
which supported life. After it ended, the question-answer session began.
Any one could ask questions.

The first
person selected to ask the question stood up.

“Sir, I am a
newbie FOTA member. Can you brief me about the different classification of
Aliens?”

“The Aliens
have been roughly classified into three categories by eminent scientist Robert
M Stone according to their behavior during their visits to earth. The Gray
Aliens, who wish to gain control over the earth and earthlings, the
Peacekeepers who keep act as the guardians of earth and the visitor aliens. The
bad guys, the little gray aliens, are the ones you always hear about in most
presentations. They abduct and exploit humans. The good guys, called the
Peacekeepers, are ones you rarely hear about, perhaps because they look human
rather than humanoid, thus, not visually exciting. Also contact with them is
more difficult to remember and the memories are more difficult to retrieve. The
tourist Aliens passes by the earth from time to time and sometimes picks up a
human for study. However, it is nothing more than curiosity and they are aware
of the planetary rules; humans are returned unharmed. With some of the human
looking alien civilizations, one could be sitting next to you right at this
moment and you wouldn't know they were an extra-terrestrial,” said the speaker
and Jennifer heard many in the audience whistle.

The next
question was about what attracted the gray aliens to earth.

“The earth
is considered as a gem among the planets of the universe. The blue gem. The
oceans conceal one the most coveted metals that the gray aliens seek. The
Gelladium, which would help them prepare a potion like the famed elixir that
would increase their life span. The average life span of a gray alien is
1200-2000 earth years whereas for the peacekeepers it is more than 10,000 earth
years. In order to prepare the earthlings to survive the attacks of the gray
aliens, peacekeepers have been interbreeding with the humans to produce a new
line of powerful beings. You can find them referred to in the scriptures as the
yogis and saints who could do miracles.”

“Sir, but do
these powerful beings exist still on earth?”

“Yes, many. Nevertheless,
most of them have forgotten their powers and are surviving like mere humans.
Over the years, their powers have deteriorated as they have inter-bred with
humans and half the earth’s population are now the progeny of those early
peacekeepers.”

“Sir, then
why are humans beings still having a few decades of lifespan?”

“It is the
conditioning that has been happening since the dawn of civilization. Man forgot
his power and has become a slave to his emotions. The negative emotions rule
and the positive are trashed which make them vulnerable to quick demise. Only
when he learns to use the power of his ego will man survive the wind of time.
And we need to trash the technologies and return to our roots. We are capable
of telepathy and even intra-galaxy travel using just the power of our mind. We
need to develop that because the time is crucial.”

“Sir, why do
you say that the time is crucial?” asked Jennifer, as it was her turn.

“The only
thing that harms the gray aliens from entering the earth’s atmosphere is its
thick ozone layer. If they encounter the layer, they die. Their vehicles are
damaged heavily and they cannot transport anything substantial back to their
home, the Pandorus in the Sirius Galaxy. But now the Ozone layer is being
depleted rapidly and the gray aliens are helping the humans develop machines
that will deplete the layer further. Check the major UFO sighting years in
history and you will find an invention in the same year that changed the way
humans have lived. Be it the Jet Engines, the optical fiber, the Arpanet or the
Large Haldron collider, we have corresponding UFO sightings to match. The gray
aliens are plotting the downfall of humans and they are not aware,” the speaker
paused and a fog of uncertainty and dread hung in the auditorium.

“Is there no
way out?”

“Yes, we
have to revive the latent power hidden in each one of us. And yes, the
peacekeepers are always there for you,” said the speaker.

“How do we
believe you? What is the proof that peacekeepers are present on earth?” asked a
skeptic newbie.

“Because… I
am one of them,” said the masked Speaker and an eerie silence greeted his declaration.

As though to
prove his point, the speaker raised his hands and drew an arc above his head,
and then moved them in a circular motion forward as though drawing curtains
close. A turquoise blue glass like dome appeared around him. With the sound
that could be likened to the sound of a splash; the dome took off at a speed
never seen by human eyes. It disappeared in the horizon after moving out through the
closed windows without any apparent damage to the glass panels.

Jennifer
gasped and she heard screams of disbelief and fear echoing in the auditorium.
Sounds of hurrying feet followed as people scampered out of the crowded
auditorium like a pack of scared lambs.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

For aspiring authors, the day when
their work becomes published for the first time is the harbinger of a new life.
A second Life. Moreover, my dream has come true. From a writer, I have
graduated to an Author.

I feel blessed doubly, because the
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The Write India team selected 25 life changing stories that will inspire you, after a nation wide hunt for inspiring stories. The
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Contributing authors with the title of their story:

1. Aathira Jim- 'I am
Sita'

2. Aayesha Hakim-
'In the Classroom of Life'

3. Abhik
Chakraborty- 'The hug of Ishwar and Allah'

4. Anirootha K R-
'Everything happens for a reason'

5. Archana Mishra-
'The Blanket'

6. Deepti Menon-
'Jasmine at the doorstep'

7. Garima Behal-
'Thank you, Samar'

8. J. Alchem- 'The
Highway man'

9. Madhurima
Halder- 'The girl with a glass of cocktail'

10. Nalini
Chandran- 'Faith can move mountains'

11. Neha Somani-
'The Long Winding Corridor'

12. Preethi Venugopal- 'The Arabian Dream'

13. Preeti Singh-
'A mother's miracle'

14. Prity S Pujari-
'Love is for beginners'

15. Renuka
Vishwanathan- 'When love has gone'

16. Saral Joshi-
'Yes!'

17. Shrruti Patole
Clarence- 'A daughter's diary'

18. Shruti
Fatehpuria- 'Wildrose and Snowflake'

19. Shubham Singh-
'That kid in the corner'

20. Shubhi
Mehrotra- 'A piece of paper'

21. Smriti Mahale-
'Through her eyes'

22. Somya Singh-
'Joy to the world'

23. Sunanya Pal-
'Khushboo- the fragrance of Kindness'

24. Swagnikaa Roy- ''Aurora''

25. Trippayar
Sahasranaman Priyaa- 'A thing of beauty'

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